A large carved wooden 'Black Forest' clock with a deer hunt on a console tabel with floral design, 19th/20th C.

拍品描述

H 79 - L 77 - D 37 cm (the console) H 69 cm (the clock) Contrary to popular misconception, the genre of wood carvings known collectively as Black Forest carvings do not emanate from the Black Forest region of Southwest Germany at all. They are in fact the work of the master craftsmen of the Swiss region of Brienz, on the northern shore of Lake Brienz, situated in the south east corner of the Canton of Bern. The confusion probably stems from the fact that the rich darker woods favoured by the carvers of Brienz bear a striking similarity to the dark pines from which the Black Forest region gets its name. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, as the continent of Europe reopened to wealthy British travellers, Lake Brienz emerged as a popular stopover for gentlemen undertaking a Grand Tour. The man credited with founding the tradition of carving in Brienz was a wood turner by the name of Christian Fischer (1790–1848). When the village was struck by famine in 1816, Fischer began adding ornate carvings to ordinary household goods, such as bowls, cups, and boxes to sell as souvenirs to tourists.

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